Foreign diplomats and certain diplomatic mission personnel posted to the United Kingdom are exempt from immigration control while carrying out their official duties. This allows them to enter, live in and travel from the UK without obtaining immigration permission for the duration of their posting.
The exemption is determined by the person’s position and purpose in the UK. Holding a diplomatic, official or service passport is not enough on its own.
What does exemption from immigration control mean?
A person who is exempt from immigration control is not subject to the usual UK Immigration Rules while the exemption applies.
Qualifying diplomatic personnel can:
- Enter the UK without a visa or entry clearance;
- Remain in the UK for the duration of their posting;
- Leave and re-enter the UK while their posting continues; and
- Bring qualifying family members to live with them.
Exempt status is linked to the individual’s official appointment and ordinarily comes to an end after their diplomatic functions cease. Diplomatic exemption does not, in itself, confer permission to remain under the Immigration Rules or provide a route to settlement.
Who qualifies for diplomatic exemption?
Section 8(3) of the Immigration Act 1971 provides total exemption from immigration control for qualifying personnel posted to diplomatic missions in the UK.
Several categories of mission personnel may qualify.
Diplomatic agents
Diplomatic agents perform official functions on behalf of their government. Their titles may include:
- Ambassador;
- High Commissioner;
- Minister;
- Minister-Counsellor;
- Counsellor;
- First Secretary;
- Second Secretary; and
- Third Secretary.
The title alone is not decisive. The person must hold an accredited diplomatic appointment and perform diplomatic functions for the sending government.
Administrative and technical staff
Personnel who perform administrative or technical duties in support of a mission may also be exempt. This category can include:
- Administrative attachés;
- Accountants;
- Financial attachés;
- Personal assistants;
- Secretaries; and
- IT administrators.
To qualify, the individual must generally have been living outside the UK and must not have been present in the UK when offered the mission post. They must also continue to be employed as a member of the mission.
Mission service staff
Mission service staff carry out domestic or supporting work for the diplomatic mission. They can include:
- Drivers;
- Butlers;
- Cooks; and
- Cleaners.
They must be employed, paid and posted to the UK by the sending country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A worker employed personally by a diplomat is not treated as mission service staff.
Locally engaged staff
Some staff paid directly by a diplomatic mission may qualify where they perform a genuine mission function and were recruited while resident outside the UK.
Personnel recruited from within the UK are not exempt merely because they work for an embassy, high commission or diplomatic mission.
Which family members may qualify?
A diplomat’s exemption may extend to certain family members who form part of the diplomat’s household.
The family members who normally qualify are:
- A husband, wife or civil partner; and
- A dependent child under 18.
The authorities must be satisfied that the relationship is genuine and that the individual is part of the diplomatic household.
The exempt status of a spouse or civil partner will usually continue in line with the diplomat’s posting. For a dependent child under 18, it will normally be valid in line with the diplomat’s record or until the day before the child’s 18th birthday, whichever is earlier.
Can a dependent child over 18 remain exempt?
A dependent child aged between 18 and 24 may continue to qualify if they are in full-time education.
The child must:
- Have confirmed full-time studies at an eligible institution in the UK;
- Not be in full-time employment;
- Remain genuinely financially dependent on the diplomat;
- Form part of the diplomat’s household;
- Have adequate funds; and
- Intend to complete their studies before turning 25.
The child’s exempt status will normally continue until the earliest of:
- The end of their confirmed studies;
- The end of the parent’s posting; or
- The day before their 25th birthday.
An adult child who does not meet these conditions may only be considered where exceptional or compassionate circumstances exist. This could include a person who requires long-term care because of a serious illness or disability.
Parents of diplomats do not normally qualify. Other relatives, including siblings, nieces, nephews and grandchildren, are not eligible under the ordinary family provisions.
Are unmarried partners exempt?
An unmarried partner is not automatically exempt from immigration control.
UK has reciprocal arrangements with a limited number of countries under which unmarried partners may receive exempt status. Outside these arrangements, the partner will ordinarily need special entry clearance.
To qualify under the unmarried partner concession, the applicant must show that:
- The sending government recognises the relationship as durable;
- The relationship is akin to marriage; and
- The couple intend to live together during the diplomatic posting.
The usual two-year cohabitation requirement does not apply.
A successful applicant may work in the UK and will not be required to pay the Immigration Health Surcharge. However, they must provide biometric information, will have no recourse to public funds and cannot obtain settlement through this route.
If the couple marry or form a recognised civil partnership during the posting, the partner may become exempt and apply for a digital record of exemption.
How are polygamous marriages treated?
UK does not recognise polygamous marriages for these purposes.
Where a diplomat has more than one spouse, only one spouse may receive exempt status and the associated privileges and immunities. Other spouses must qualify under the Immigration Rules in their own right.
Cases involving polygamous marriages are referred to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s Diplomatic Missions and International Organisations Unit.
What happens following divorce?
A former spouse no longer forms part of the diplomat’s family household and therefore loses the exemption derived from that relationship.
If the divorce is completed while the couple are in the UK, the former spouse will ordinarily receive 90 days deemed permission to remain after ceasing to be exempt. During that period, they may leave the UK or apply for another form of immigration permission if they qualify.
Are private servants exempt?
A worker employed and paid by the sending country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs may qualify as exempt mission service staff.
A private servant employed personally by a diplomat, including a Head of Mission, is subject to immigration control. They will normally need to apply under the Private Servants in a Diplomatic Household subcategory of the Temporary Work – International Agreement route.
The identity of the employer is therefore important. Performing domestic work in a diplomatic household does not automatically provide exempt status.
Can an exempt diplomat settle in the UK?
Diplomatic exemption is not a route to settlement. Time spent in the UK as an exempt diplomat does not, by itself, lead to indefinite leave to remain.
A person also cannot ordinarily be granted immigration permission under another route while they remain exempt. An application submitted during the exempt period would generally be treated as void because the applicant is not subject to immigration control.
Once the exemption ends, the former diplomat may be able to apply from within the UK under another immigration category for which they qualify.
What happens when a diplomatic posting ends?
When the diplomat’s official functions end, they ordinarily continue to be exempt and enjoy the relevant privileges and immunities for a further 31 days.
If the person leaves the UK during those 31 days, their exemption ends upon departure.
After the 31-day period, the former diplomat is generally treated as having permission to remain for 90 days. This provides time to:
- Leave the UK;
- Make arrangements following the end of the posting; or
- Apply under another eligible immigration route.
The 90-day period ends if the person leaves the Common Travel Area. A person who neither leaves nor regularises their immigration position within the permitted period may become liable to administrative removal.
Does a diplomatic passport prove exempt status?
A diplomatic, official or service passport is not, by itself, sufficient evidence of exemption from UK immigration control. Entitlement is determined by the individual’s position, the purpose of their presence in the UK and whether they continue to perform the relevant diplomatic or mission functions.
For administrative, technical, service and locally engaged staff, the circumstances of recruitment may also be relevant. Evidence will commonly include a Note Verbale or a letter of accreditation or authorisation. An FCDO identity card may also confirm status, although further checks may be necessary to establish that the diplomatic posting remains current.
Conclusion
Exemption from UK immigration control allows eligible diplomats, qualifying mission personnel and certain dependent family members to reside in the UK for the duration of an official posting. Entitlement depends on the individual’s accredited role and circumstances; a diplomatic, official or service passport is not sufficient on its own.
Part 2 of this guide will explain how to obtain a digital record of exemption, including the application process, supporting documents, Note Verbale requirements, costs, processing times and travel considerations.
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